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  Amylsims Posts: 108 Member

  April 2018

  Hey, I’ve had a look at your specs and everything seems fine (please be aware: I’m no computer expert)
  But I did some research and it looks like Windows 8.1 can be a bit problematic for users...
  https://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-3/The-Sims-3-COMPATIBILITY-WITH-WINDOWS-8/td-p/1537903 - I don’t know if this forum makes any sense to you, but you could always have a look and see if anything these people are saying could be useful
  

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  igazor Posts: 19,330 Member

  April 2018 edited April 2018

  From the information we have already the computer on which you have been playing TS3 for years has had its components change several times, and this (we aren't sure) seems to be where at least some of the issues are coming from.
  
  We have attempted to be helpful here in the past and have learned that you upgraded your RAM, originally to a different type so that (we're not sure) at one time you may have been running with mismatched RAM sticks but you resolved that. You have upgraded the graphics card (twice now?), possibly without taking into account the power supply needs of the newer, more powerful cards. We don't know this for sure, but have to suspect some form of hardware damage might have happened in between. We had a computer build specialist come onto the thread and give guidance, but cannot see where that might have led as the conversation on the New Members thread in particular seemed to drop off there.
  http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/16311082/#Comment_16311082
  
  @chesterbigbird is still on the forums. Perhaps you and she could connect and, if she is able to help, resume the hardware troubleshooting? Otherwise I don't really know how else we can be of assistance.
  
  Let's rule out this 32- vs. 64-bit thing though. We can and just about everyone these days does run 32-bit applications on 64-bit operating systems. That's why you have a "Program Files" folder (for 64-bit) and a "Programs Files (x86)" folder (for 32-bit). There is no 64-bit version of TS3, it only exists as a 32-bit application like so many others do (look in your x86 folder for other examples) and this is not a problem. It only means that the 32-bit applications cannot individually recognize or use more than 4 GB of RAM each, while your entire system in total can utilize all of the RAM that you have. That cannot be changed unless EA some day through some miracle releases a 64-bit version of the game, but that's not likely to happen since the game has been out of development for over four years now.

  Post edited by igazor on April 2018

  
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  igazor Posts: 19,330 Member

  April 2018 edited April 2018

  Amylsims wrote: »

  Hey, I’ve had a look at your specs and everything seems fine (please be aware: I’m no computer expert)
  But I did some research and it looks like Windows 8.1 can be a bit problematic for users...
  https://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-3/The-Sims-3-COMPATIBILITY-WITH-WINDOWS-8/td-p/1537903 - I don’t know if this forum makes any sense to you, but you could always have a look and see if anything these people are saying could be useful

  Sorry, I know you are trying to be helpful but most of that thread is not relevant. TS3 is compatible with Windows 8.1. It was Windows 8, before the 8.1 update many years ago, that caused compatibility problems for some players. And there were some players on that thread back then still struggling with 32-bit operating systems, which this player does not have.
  

  
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  MelHub92 Posts: 75 Member

  April 2018

  From what I've seen my power supply is pretty standard unless you're saying it got damaged? Thanks for explaining about the 32 thing.

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  igazor Posts: 19,330 Member

  April 2018 edited April 2018

  MelHub92 wrote: »

  From what I've seen my power supply is pretty standard unless you're saying it got damaged? Thanks for explaining about the 32 thing.

  I admit this is not my area of expertise, which is why we tried to get you into a conversation with someone whose it is. I'm not sure there is any such thing as a power supply that looks standard. They each have a load to carry.
  
  This computer has gone from having an R7 to a GTX 960, and now a GTX 1050Ti, all on the original power supply? While it's possible for that to be okay, I don't know what the odds would be. Can you identify its model number and specs from the computer's original documentation, perhaps? Otherwise chester will likely need you to open the case and look for some identifiers on the supply itself.
  
  I am assuming, though I didn't ask, that you have vsync going by way of the Nivida Control Panel and have checked the fps rate you are getting on the newest card now? It would be even more critical to have the fps rate capped to the refresh rate of your monitor on this card than the two prior to avoid performance issues, crashing, and video card burnout. As we discussed long ago, TS3 has no built-in fps limiter.

  
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  MelHub92 Posts: 75 Member

  April 2018

  I did that a while ago when I put it in, but not since I reinstalled the game yesterday. Does that make a difference? by standard I meant that it's only a few models older/less modern than whats in the stores now, I did look at them a few months ago when you both had suggested it. I was having health issues that distracted me from hobbies at that time and forgot about that forum and had a hard time back tracking.

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  igazor Posts: 19,330 Member

  April 2018 edited April 2018

  When the game is running, assuming you can keep it running long enough to do so, ctrl+shift+C to bring up the cheats console. Type fps on (enter). As you play and move the game camera around, the displayed value should never exceed 60 fps (as like most you have a 60 Hz screen). To make the fps display go away, cheats console again and fps off (enter). At least let's rule this out if we could, if the values are locking in right at 60 fps then we know this isn't part of the problem.
  
  Sorry to hear of your health issues, hope you are feeling much better now.

  
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  MelHub92 Posts: 75 Member

  April 2018 edited April 2018

  I also want to point out that I no longer get bsod, its just the sims 3 and it's just this annoying freezing thing. Sometimes it'll work for a few minutes or hours but more often than not it'll freeze within minutes. It is still set up to cap at 59 and 60 btw.

  Post edited by MelHub92 on April 2018

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  Amylsims Posts: 108 Member

  April 2018

  Ah, oh well. I’m glad someone knows what they’re talking about at least

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  KireiEnzeru Posts: 3 New Member

  June 2018

  So, I'm having some freezing issues with Sims 3 as well. It's funny because...I've been building my own rigs for quite some time and have only recently had issues...somehow my Phenom and Radeon HD 5700 ran Sims 3 the best back in 08. In 2015 I rebuilt my rig with an AMD FX 8350, 960 GTX, 8 GB ram, a SSD, and my recycled WD Velociraptor HDD for my games...It's had ram upgrades and HDD and SSD since then plus another 960 GTX and I can't run Sims 3 for crap. It makes me laugh...because I can max EVERYTHING. XD So I'm like, must be AMD, they've finally shown a weakness. So here I am, 2018, thinking that a nice Intel is the way to go and maybe just get a laptop because my rig is still good and I can rebuild in a few years(probably not with the Ryzen 7 and R9 Vega from AMD though; dang you AMD for having tech goodies!)
  
  Anyway, I bought a Lenovo Legion Y520. It's great. It runs everything, I am super happy...so I think, hey, let's TRY the Sims 3 on this nice new clean laptop that has not been tampered with by me yet. So, I install. Minutes into the game it's freezing and lagging like crazy. I check log. No GPU found. Cool. Update all drivers on my laptop, run it through Nvidia Experience, nada...if anything, it was EVEN worse. Go figure. Thankfully Subnautica runs like liquid...so I know my laptop is capable of handling the Sims 3. Just wanna know if there is a fix and what to do...I read some files here and there about modifying and changing some logs...but to be honest, I do worry about tampering especially since I've never done it before. Help would be greatly appreciated.

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  igazor Posts: 19,330 Member

  June 2018 edited June 2018

  KireiEnzeru wrote: »

  So, I'm having some freezing issues with Sims 3 as well. It's funny because...I've been building my own rigs for quite some time and have only recently had issues...somehow my Phenom and Radeon HD 5700 ran Sims 3 the best back in 08.

  Hi there. This is usually where I stop reading the help requests that start with historical accounts. You somehow managed to best run the game a year before it was released?
  
  Okay, maybe enough time has passed now that we should just say "in a prior decade" and move on.
  
  

  KireiEnzeru wrote: »

  Anyway, I bought a Lenovo Legion Y520. It's great. It runs everything, I am super happy...so I think, hey, let's TRY the Sims 3 on this nice new clean laptop that has not been tampered with by me yet. So, I install. Minutes into the game it's freezing and lagging like crazy. I check log. No GPU found. Cool. Update all drivers on my laptop, run it through Nvidia Experience, nada...if anything, it was EVEN worse. Go figure. Thankfully Subnautica runs like liquid...so I know my laptop is capable of handling the Sims 3. Just wanna know if there is a fix and what to do...I read some files here and there about modifying and changing some logs...but to be honest, I do worry about tampering especially since I've never done it before. Help would be greatly appreciated.

  If the game couldn't find a GPU to use, it wouldn't play at all and stall out on you right at launch. If you have dual graphics, as is common on laptops, it could be reaching for the integrated rather than the dedicated one. What you might be seeing in the DeviceConfig.log is the entry where it cannot find your GPU in the game's database of recognized cards, which does not mean it's not being used. All of the newer cards are outside of the recognized list at first and the more powerful ones need to have their frame rates capped. Like most older games, TS3 does not have a built-in fps limiter. But, first things first.
  
  The Legion Y520 is a line of laptops, not a specific model number from which we can figure out its specs. It would help if we knew exactly what you were working with.
  How to run a dxdiag: https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information
  
  If you could, please send a full dxdiag up to Pastebin.com and provide a broken up link (use "h.t.t.p.s." or something like that) so we can read it.
  
  Also please tell us which EPs you have in play and which worlds you are testing out. Isla Paradiso and Bridgeport would be poor choices as they have their own issues.

  
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  KireiEnzeru Posts: 3 New Member

  June 2018

  Whoops, so yeah, I didn't play it a year before it came out...my mistake and also apology. I own Late Night, Island Paradiso, and Supernatural. I'm just honestly frustrated and am really upset that this ONE game has not worked for so long. As for my laptop it is an i7 7700HQ with a 1050 GTX and 8GB Ram...more detailed information can be obtained below.
  
  h.t.t.p.s://pastebin.com/jDqPSVPU

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  igazor Posts: 19,330 Member

  June 2018 edited June 2018

  @KireiEnzeru - We can help you get it working as this system is more than capable of handling all of TS3. Your laptop has dual graphics. What you will need to do (unless you've done this already) is set up a profile in the Nvidia Control Panel for the correct executable. That would be TS3.exe (for Patch 1.69) or TS3w.exe (with the "w" for Patch 1.67 and below). On that profile, there will be a choice to force the use of the correct card, the selection should be "Use High Performance Card" or something like that.
  
  While there, you will need to cap the fps rate for the Nvidia to the refresh rate of your monitor/screen. That would be 60 Hz, so 60 fps. This is not optional, the GTX 1050Ti will run wild on frame rates if not capped and that causes graphics glitches, screen tears, lag, and crashes, and can ultimately burn out the card by forcing it to work far too hard generating excessive frames per second for no reason. Still on the Nvidia Control Panel, set vsync to "On" or "Adaptive" (whichever one works) and Triple Buffering to On.
  
  To check the actual fps rate you are getting in-game, if you can before it crashes on you, ctrl+shift+C to bring up the cheats console and type fps on (enter). As you play and move the game camera around, the displayed fps rate should never exceed 60. Note that vsync through the Control Panel only works in full screen mode. If that's not enough to lock things in, or if windowed mode is required as well, then the next step is to add Nvidia Inspector and set the frame rate cap on TS3 from there. To switch the fps display off, cheats console again and fps off (enter).
  
  Here are some visuals for the two tools, under the spoiler tags: http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/16540301/#Comment_16540301
  
  If you have used GeForce Experience to "optimize" TS3, you will want to undo (revert) from there as that option makes a mess of TS3 and other older games and can get in the way of the Nvidia hand-off and the fps capping even working.
  
  If the Control Panel/Inspector combo still doesn't do the trick and/or the game's DeviceConfig.log indicates that the Intel HD 630 is still being used by the game, then we have to take some extra steps to force this to hand-off and cap things properly.
  
  Then, once the game is more stable and verified to be using the correct card and with the fps capped, we can talk about getting that card formally recognized. This part isn't always necessary though, an "unrecognized card" will still be used properly but it just won't always have a suitable set of default settings associated with it. Where the game will fail outright is if you get an "undetected card," this is different, but again then the game won't even launch.
  
  And finally, again be sure to be using a gentle to play world that isn't full of design flaws for testing. We can talk about making Bridgeport and Isla Paradiso more playable, that's certainly doable, but for now perhaps stay with Sunset Valley, Riverview, or Moonlight Falls until we get things stable as the other two worlds are going to confuse things with their own sets of issues in play.

  Post edited by igazor on June 2018

  
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  KireiEnzeru Posts: 3 New Member

  June 2018

  Using the Nvidia Control/Nvidia Inspector to limit the fps has significantly improved the quality of my game experience. I started with Sunset Valley as suggested and had been playing for an hour with no hiccups or freezes so I closed it down and I reran it with two of the EP and it also worked seamlessly...So, thank you. I'm grateful and I will apply this fix to my PC as well since I imagine this is the same problem I am running into.

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  igazor Posts: 19,330 Member

  June 2018 edited June 2018

  @KireiEnzeru - This sounds like progress. Glad to hear it!
  
  

  Post edited by igazor on June 2018

  
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  MelHub92 Posts: 75 Member

  October 2018

  In case anyone else has this problem and still cares I fixed it. A new power supply did not help at all. I uninstalled the game (third times a charm) and then reinstalled it again and added back my saves folder but not the saved sims bin folder. It works fine now. Something I guess was corrupted in that folder. I have no idea what or how but it works across all saved games now.

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  MelHub92 Posts: 75 Member

  October 2018

  In case anyone else has this problem and still cares I fixed it. A new power supply did not help at all. I uninstalled the game (third times a charm) and then reinstalled it again and added back my saves folder but not the saved sims bin folder. It works fine now. Something I guess was corrupted in that folder. I have no idea what or how but it works across all saved games now.

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